1. Technical Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to configuring new personal systems. More particularly, it pertains to a configuration tool capable of migrating user configurations from one operating system to another, reconfiguring the system once deployed, and maintaining a central database of configurations.
2. Background Art
Before a personal system can be put to productive use, a plurality of software products including an operating system and several applications must be installed, and the operating environment properly configured. These operating system and application programs grow in number and change with new releases, and system users periodically upgrade their personal systems to newer, more powerful models. It is not unusual for organizations to have to install large numbers of personal computer systems and configure operating environments on hundreds and thousands of such systems. These systems typically include some software and operating environments that are common, at least within related organizations, and yet each system differs in accordance with the specific needs and preferences of the individual user.
One approach to delivering new computer systems to personnel within an organization is to clone the system with the operating system and all applications installed. Then, each application setup or configuration application is run to personalize the system for the unique needs and environment of the user. While this process does work, it is very time consuming and labor intensive.
Sometimes when installing a new release of an application, the start up code for the new release erases configuration information from the previous release required in the new environment.
It is an object of the invention to provide an improved system and method for personalizing a cloned system so that it will function for a particular user.
It is a further object of the invention to provide an improved system and method for configuring a machine after an image has been loaded onto that machine.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a system and method for migrating a user configuration from one operating system to another.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a system and method for enabling a user to reconfigure a previously deployed system for use at another location without having to reload the software on the machine.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a system and method for maintaining a central database of configurations.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a system and method for selectively preserving preexisting configuration information for use in a new environment.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a system and method allowing a user to be migrated from one operating system to another.
In accordance with a first aspect of the invention, a method is provided for configuring a computer system, comprising the steps of migrating a user configuration from a first operating system to a second operating system; and reconfiguring the computer system with the user configuration and the second operating system.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, there is provided a system for configuring a computer system with respect to one or more applications, comprising a memory; an export file; and for each supported application, an installed method for determining if the application is installed on the system; a load_data method for loading configuration data for the application into memory; an import_data method for replacing configuration data in the memory with configuration data held in the export file; and an export_data method for writing configuration data from the memory to the export file.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, there is provided a computer program product configured to be operable to configure a computer system by migrating a user configuration from a first operating system to a second operating system and reconfiguring the computer system with the user configuration and the second operating system.
Other features and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the presently preferred embodiment of the invention, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic representation of a system for configuring a personal system.
FIG. 2 is a low chart illustrating the operation of the configuration tool of a preferred embodiment of the invention for configuring a new machine without migration.
FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic representation of the methods defined for each supported application.
FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic representation of the procedures implementing specific applications supported by the configuration tool of the preferred embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic representation of command line arguments for executing the configuration tool on either a machine being configured or a machine from which a configuration is being obtained.
FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating the migration process of the preferred embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 7 is a diagrammatic representation of an Import/Export file in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the invention.